Tim “The Missile” Yeung (Divine Heresy, ex-All That Remains, Nile, Hate Eternal, Vital Remains) is finally getting the notoriety he so greatly deserves upon landing a very coveted gig tracking drums on the much anticipated new Morbid Angel album.

Yeung checks in with the following report: “Hey everybody. I haven’t posted an update in awhile so I thought that I should share with everyone what I’ve been up to lately. As many of you know, I have been working with Morbid Angel for the past 10 months (Pete Sandoval is recovering from a recent back operation). I must say that it has been a huge honor to be playing for one of my favorite bands that I grew up listening to as well as filling in for one of my biggest metal drumming inspirations. I’m currently in Tampa, FL finishing up the new album with David (vocals, bass) and Trey (guitars) and it’s going great. Overall, I think it may be one of their most well rounded albums ever. There are killer experimental electronic parts, as well as some really cool groove parts. Don’t worry there is plenty of blast beats and blazing double bass as well.

“I’ve also been working on a Ddrum signature snare which will be out early next year. It’s a 14×6.5, steel shell, flanged hoops, USA tube lugs, etc. This drum is absolutely perfect. I’ve been beating on the prototype and I’m in love with it. I also have been working with 3rd Degree merch on a Tim Yeung package which includes a T-shirt, my personal sticks and an autographed poster.
“If you are interested head over now to http://thirddegreemerch.com/band_store_detail.php?id=832&band_key=103. There is a limited supply, so don’t wait around.”

In the fourth of nine installments, bassist/vocalist Grutle Kjellson and rhythm guitarist/songwriter Ivar Bjørnson of the progressive/psychedelic Norwegian black metal band ENSLAVED offer commentary on the songs that will appear on the band’s new album Axioma Ethica Odini, which is scheduled for release in Europe on September 27th and in North America on September 28th.

Grutle on “The Beacon”:

“Seemingly a straight forward song by listening to the opening, but becomes a bit ‘progressive’ after a while. A very energetic song with a crystal clear live song potency: It’s intense, brutal, desperate and yet also groovy at times. The title was inspired by a movie I saw. In old times, they would light beacons to summon their allies to aid. The lyrics deal with watching out for certain signals within your own mind and body, and running to aid when the beacons are lit.”

Ivar on “The Beacon”:
“This one I had a killer feeling for right from the start of making it: It starts with a nod to classic Norwegian Metal before pairing the old school BM-feeling with Classic Rock before going into dark territories with the middle-section of the song. Again, the singers really raise the bar with their efforts: Grutle’s harsh vocals have the perfect aggression and timing, while [keyboard player] Herbrand’s clean vocals take on a few unexpected turns in the chorus. The gem is Herbrand’s organ in this song: The organ-lead in the second verse takes me back to Deep Purple, while the way it is used in the middle-section has to be the blackest use of the [Hammond] B3 [organ] ever!”

Click here to read the commentaries on “Ethica Odini,” “Raidho,” and “Waruun.”

Fans interested in creating an official entry for ENSLAVED’s video contest for the track “Ethica Odini” can obtain details here. Contest ends Thursday, September 30th.

ENSLAVED will embark on a 7-show “Circling Above and Within Tour” of Europe beginning October 15th and will return to North America in November as the direct support act for DIMMU BORGIR. All upcoming tour dates are available here.

View the four-part in-studio video series of ENSLAVED members answering fan questions on the making of Axioma Ethica Odini on the band’s official YouTube channel.

Dream Theater’s JAMES LABRIE is easily one of the defining, elite and naturally talented vocalists the world has to offer and after selling over a million albums worldwide he further challenges himself with an aggressive and dynamic new solo effort. Go to http://www.insideoutmusic.com/specials/jameslabrie/ to get a FREE MP3 of the song “Mislead” from JAMES LABRIE’s new album, Static Impulse. All you have to do is spread the word via Facebook or Twitter and the song is yours! The album comes out on September 27th in the UK/EU and September 28th in North America.

LABRIE states: “The track ‘Mislead’ was a sleeping giant for Matt Guillory (keyboards) and I. Most of the parts came quickly, but seemed to be missing the key elements or ingredients that would keep you in its grip the entire ride. We kept playing with the interaction of the instruments and vocal melodies. Matt kept working his magic with the interplay of the keys, bass, guitar and drums. It wasn’t until I was almost ready to lay my vocals that Matt and I felt it had all that it needed, but we wouldn’t see the proof in the pudding until after both mine and Peter’s vocals were laid.

“Peter’s vocals were done before mine which enabled me to feed off his energy and really nail the attitude and personality needed for this song. What began as one of the maybe, maybe not tunes for this disc. It ultimately ended up being one of our favorites. The lyrics I wrote deal with the ever present corruption and oppression in far too many governments. I know lighten up right, I’m light; it’s them who need to chill out. Enjoy.”

Guillory further comments: “In the writing process, ‘Mislead’ ended up being more of a challenge than the other songs. It’s got all the right ingredients though; dense syncopated riffing, atmospheric keyboards, melodic hooks, and over-the-top vocals. In the end, we’re really pleased with the way it turned out. I absolutely love the contrast between James’ crystal-clear lead vocal delivery and Peter’s melo-death screams.”

The much anticipated new full-length offering, Static Impulse, also marks LABRIE’s first solo effort in over five years and is sure to please his legion of diehard fans, as well as win over many new devotees in the process. A special pre-order package is now available exclusively through CMDistro.com where fans can pre-order the album along with an exclusive t-shirt. Click on the link below to purchase now.http://www.cmdistro.com/Item/James_LaBrie_-_-Static_Impulse-_CD_+_Shirt_-PRE-ORDER-/PKG000453

Static Impulse also features the immensely talented longtime songwriting partner and keyboardist Matt Guillory. Another notable performance is Peter Wildoer from metal titans DARKANE on drums and screaming vocals. The group is rounded out by Marco Sfogli on guitars and Ray Riendeau on bass. Static Impulse is set for a September 28th release on InsideOut Music and was mixed and mastered by the renowned Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia).
For additional information feel free to visitwww.jameslabrie.com

Detroit deathcore destroyers, AND HELL FOLLOWED WITH will be taking their larger than life destructive sounds out on the road once again as part of the Malus Clothing Portals Tour. Joining them will be headliners, ARSONISTS GET ALL THE GIRLS, ION DISSONANCE, WITHIN THE RUINS, DESTRUCTION OF A ROSE and STRUCTURES. The tour will run throughout North America from mid-October to late-November and will surely be a head-smashingly good time for all.

01. Signs of Temptation
02. Blood Stained History
03. My Glorious Burden
04. My Own Tragedy
05. The Last March
06. The Happening
07. Hymn For a Brighter Dawn
08. As Fool We Dance
09. Oh Winter Morning
10. Again Came The Storm

Powerful and Melodic are the best words to define Again came The Storm. With Strong Guitar Riffs and Beautiful piano melodies, this 53mn record mix all elements that all amateurs of POWER METAL ask for. This release will reach all fans of bands such as EDGUY, SONATA ARCTICA, KAMELOT and FIREWIND. To get a high quality production, Icewind relied on music industry big names. Mastering has been done by ALAN DOUCHES at WEST WEST SIDE MASTERING (SYMPHONY X, MASTODON, SEPULTURA, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE) in New York, USA. The splendid artwork is the creation of JAN MEININGHAUS ( BRAINSTORM, FALCONER, MYSTIC PROPHECY, DREAM EVIL). The long awaited album is about to be released under Metalodic Records.

After a 17-year absence from performing live in Los Angeles, Germany’s legendary heavy metal band ACCEPT proudly announces their exclusive West Coast show on October 19th in Hollywood, California at The Key Club. The show will be streamed live around the world via Stickam.com.

Tickets for ACCEPT’s October 19th show are now on sale exclusively at EnterTheVault.com. The show will go on sale via all normal ticketing systems on September 21st. EnterTheVault.com VIP tickets for the pre-show Meet & Greet session are also available. All VIP ticket buyers will also receive a customized poster signed by the band.

ACCEPT’s return to the touring circuit at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre on May 8th, 2010 was officially sold out.

Blood Of The Nations was released yesterday in North America and debuted as the #25 Rock Album on iTunes. It was recorded at Backstage Studio in England with famed producer Andy Sneap (Megadeth, Exodus, Opeth, Arch Enemy).

ACCEPT’s co-headlining tour with King’s X launches next week in Poughkeepsie, New York. Confirmed tour dates & pre-sale links are available on the band’s MySpace page.

The Greek melodic metal phenomenon FIREWIND, led by the young guitar sensation Gus G., have returned with the scathing new studio album Days of Defiance, which is easily their defining musical moment. The disc is set for an October 25th release worldwide. Days of Defiance is a truly ambitious and dynamic opus featuring some of the most brilliant guitar playing the genre has seen in many years.

FIREWIND will celebrate the album’s release with a limited number of special North American headlining shows. The trek, which kicks off on Nov. 4th and runs through Nov. 7th, features Powerglove and The Absence in the support slots. Either see below or visit www.myspace.com/firewind to view all of the dates and these shows are not to be missed. Direct ticketbuy links are listed below as well.
Gus G. states: “The video for ‘World on Fire’ was shot entirely on green screen and I think this time Patric Ullaeus has outdone himself! The concept is based on the album cover artwork and it’s something we’re doing for the first time on a video of ours. There’s a barbaric vibe to it, lots of fire, metal warriors and even a Valkyrie. We’re very pleased with the final result and we believe this is our best video yet. Check it out and let the FIREWIND rage on.

“We are also very happy to announce four special album release shows in North America this fall in support of our new record, Days of Defiance. It’s been awhile since FIREWIND played North America, as our last tour was Spring/Summer 2008.

TESTAMENT WRAP-UP ON THE AMERICAN CARNAGE TOUR, BEGIN WRITING AND RECORDING NEW ALBUM, DUE MID-2011

STAY TUNED FOR MORE UPDATES ON THE FOLLOW UP TO THE AWARD WINNING ALBUM ‘THE FORMATION OF DAMNATION’!

Bay Area heavy metal legends TESTAMENT have just wrapped up on the historical AMERICAN CARNAGE tour with Slayer and Megadeth! The band would like to thank all of their loyal and remarkable fans for supporting them on this recent run, and enjoyed meeting their biggest supporters at the exclusive VIP Meet & Greets! Now that TESTAMENT is back from tearing up the stage on the AMERICAN CARNAGE tour, they are ready to head into writing and recording mode for their upcoming follow up to their Golden Gods “Album of the Year”, The Formation of Damnation!

“The AMERICAN CARNAGE tour was great for us, but now is the time for us to hold off on performing and go full steam ahead on getting the record finished,” affirms vocalist Chuck Billy. “We currently have studio time booked at the end of this year, and we’re shooting for a mid-2011 release. The new album will most likely be a culmination of The Gathering and The Formation of Damnation, but we’re definitely not going to forget who we are or our roots. I think we’ve found a comfortable spot in our writing style.”

“I think the tour went really well for us. It’s the first time we had a stage set to our live performance, which was a lot of fun, and it brought the band to a whole new level in regards to performing. Playing with Megadeth and Slayer again was a lot of fun,” adds guitarist Eric Peterson. “We’re going to be home during the fall and winter working on new material. As we speak, I’m working on new music, and we’re shooting to record by the end of the year. That’s our plan, but we’re not going to just put out a record to put out a record. We have standards, and we’re picky as to what exactly we want to put out.”

Make sure to keep an eye out for more updated information and on the writing and recording of the new album! Stay tuned for in-studio updates later this fall and winter! You can keep up with all things TESTAMENT at www.myspace.com/testamentlegions!

Can’t wait until next year to get your TESTAMENT fix? Tune in to Australia’s ‘The Racket’ to hear Chuck and Eric host the Triple J show! The show will air on Tuesday, September 28th at 10pm ET Australia time/8am ET US time. Tune into the show at this link: http://triplej.net.au/racket

TESTAMENT’S highly successful and award-winning album The Formation of Damnation was recently reissued in a deluxe tour edition in celebration of their two amazing tours this year. See below for information on the album!

Direct news from the band themselves: “After the cancellation of the Kamelot tour, LEAVES’ EYES will play the next headlining shows in the USA and Canada:

September 18

Montreal, QC

@ Club Soda

September 19

Toronto, ON

@ Opera House

September 20

Detroit, MI

@ Blondie’s

September 21

Cleveland, OH

@ Peabody’s

“Direct support will come from our Canadian friends BLACKGUARD. Be sure to come and check out the show – we hope to see you all there!”For more information, please consult http://www.myspace.com/leaveseyespage

“Burning Silence”, the new video from Costa Rica-based melodic extreme metal band SIGHT OF EMPTINESS, can be viewed below. The clip was filmed in front of 15000 Metal fans as Sight Of Emptiness opened for MEGADETH at Autodromo La Guacima in San Jose, Costa Rica.

A total of five great Video Episodes of the ‘Making of’ & moments before and during the concert can be viewed on the band’s official YouTube Channel ( http://www.youtube.com/filthysoe ).

SIGHT OF EMPTINESS supported MEGADETH on May 9 at Autodromo La Guacima in San Jose, Costa Rica. In addition, they were previously handpicked by both DARK TRANQUILLITY and AMON AMARTH to open their shows in the country. They also shared stages with such bands as LACUNA COIL, IN FLAMES, ARCH ENEMY, TESTAMENT, FIREWIND and SABBAT (featuring Andy Sneap, producer of the latest MEGADETH album, “Endgame”).

In other news, singer Whitfield Crane (UGLY KID JOE, ANOTHER ANIMAL, LIFE OF AGONY) made an special appearance with SIGHT OF EMPTINESS on July 10th at Jazz Cafe in Escazu, Costa Rica, the crowd was treated with renditions of songs in tribute to Ronnie James Dio (HEAVEN & HELL, DIO, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW), Peter Steele (TYPE O NEGATIVE) and Paul Gray(SLIPKNOT), with Crane taking the mic for the Dio portion of the show.

British death metal act IGNOMINIOUS INCARCERATION, who are currently working on the follow-up to their 2009 debut album, OF WINTER BORN, were recently forced to cancel much of their European tour after the band’s tour van crashed.

The band was driving through France on their way back to the UK, when the van carrying members of both IGNOMINIOUS INCARCERATION and labelmates AND HELL FOLLOWED WITH was involved in a crash on the motorway. Thankfully no one was seriously injured, though members were left with broken bones, cuts and bruises.

Almost a month on from the crash, IGNOMINIOUS INCARCERATION bassist CHRIS BALL discusses the band’s recovery and progress on the new album:

“After nearly a month after our crash, we’re all doing well – we’re using this time to finish writing, spend time with our family and friends and get a butt-load of gaming in, haha! My knee still can’t bend that much but it shouldn’t take long for it to get back to normal and Sam’s foot is returning to its normal self!

“In terms of recording and writing, we’ve pretty much finished writing the album and it’s sounding massive! This one will blow ‘Of Winter Born’ out of the water, so everyone needs to hold onto their hats for it as we are sure it will not disappoint. We should be hitting the studio soon and we are definitely aching to show everyone what we’ve done!

“We will not be playing any shows for the remainder of this year as we really want to concentrate on making our new release perfect and worth the extended wait for! We are sure we’ll sort a home show for a come-back, if not a few around the UK! Just keep your eyes peeled on our Facebook page or Twitter for announcements.

Christian Liljegren vocalist and founder of DIVINEFIRE, NARNIA & AUDIOVISION is back with a NEW SWEDISH MELODIC NEOCLASSICAL METAL SENSATION called GOLDEN RESURRECTION.

In 2008 Christian Liljegren joined forces with Tommy Johansson, a 20 year old super talented vocalist and guitar hero. Both shared a big passion for melodic neoclassical metal and GOLDEN RESURRECTION was born.

Now two years after GOLDEN RESURRECTION was formed the debut album “GLORY TO MY KING” is finally ready to be released. The album was produced and mixed by melodic mastermind Erik Mårtensson [W.E.T., Eclipse] and the crystal clear mastering done by Micke Lind [DIO, Candlemass, Talisman]

GOLDEN RESURRECTION inked a deal with KING RECORDS JAPAN who releases many big metal artists like PRIMAL FEAR, PRETTY MAIDS, RHAPSODY OF FIRE, KAMELOT & LION’S SHARE and many more.

GOLDEN RESURRECTION – GLORY TO MY LRCD003
Release date: October 27, 2010 in JAPAN
Christian’s own established label LILJEGREN RECORDS former RIVEL RECORDS will release it for the rest of the world on NOVEMBER 12, 2010.

GOLDEN RESURRECTION’s first official promotion video on the opening track
“SEE MY COMMANDS”, is now available to watch below:

A new North American release date for the new full-length from PRO-PAIN has been set for September 28th, via Regain Records. The powerful new album, entitled Absolute Power, is the thirteenth studio full-length from these American crossover champions.

Absolute Power explores several sides to the tried-and-true American unit’s somewhat patented sound. While a vast chunk of the album immediately recalls standard PRO-PAIN NYC-style metal/hardcore crossover attacks, many elements at play on Absolute Power infiltrate totally new ground for the band. Recorded at Little Creek Studio in Gelterkinden, Switzerland, the record features ten thunderous anthems that bridge the gap between the hardcore club and the rock arena.Absolute Power Track Listing:01. Unrestrained
02. Destroy The Enemy
03. Stand My Ground [featuring Schmier from Destruction]
04. Road To Nowhere
05. AWOL
06. Hell On Earth
07. Divided We Stand
08. Gone Rogue (I Apologize)
09. Rise Of The Antichrist
10. Hate Coalition

Formed by vocalist/bassist Gary Meskil (ex-Crumbsuckers), New York-based PRO-PAIN have over the years benefited from substantial support from an ever-growing and loyal fanbase as well as metal media and radio. Today, now joined by long term guitarist Tom Klimchuck, as well as newer members Marshall Stephens on rhythm guitar and Ricky Halverson (ex-Narcotic Self, Cellador, Stephen Pearcy’s RATT) on drums, the band’s worldwide catalog sales approaches one million units. Promos of Absolute Power are available now, as well as interviews with PRO-PAIN. In North America, contact an Earsplit rep with all promo and requests of the band…. you’ll find us in the circle pit.http://www.pro-pain.comhttp://www.myspace.com/propainspacehttp://regainrecords.comhttp://www.myspace.com/regainrecords

Nuclear Blast Records is proud to announce the various exclusive editions of DIMMU BORGIR’s new album, ABRAHADABRA, which will be released in Germany on September 24th, in the rest of Europe on September 27th, and in North America on October 12th.

Exclusive Hot Topic jewel case version will include an enhanced “Gateways” video track + the following three bonus tracks:

Deep Purple “Perfect Strangers” cover

GGFH “D.M.D.R” cover

“Dimmu Borgir” (Orchestral Version)

ABRAHADABRA at FYE / SAM GOODY

Receive a free exclusive poster with the in-store purchase of the album.

“Gateways,” the first video released to support the new album ABRAHADABRA by Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR, is now available for viewing at the Nuclear Blast & DIMMU BORGIR YouTube channels.

The “Gateways” single is now available for purchase on iTunes at this location and can also be streamed on the band’s MySpace page.

DIMMU’s 32-date run across North America launches on Friday, November 5th in Worcester, Massachusetts and ends Tuesday, December 14th in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Support will come from Enslaved and Blood Red Throne, plus Dawn Of Ashes. Advanced tickets for this tour go on sale on September 15th.